A prayer for closeness to God

Master of the World, I want to be close to You. Not because I need something particular from You, not because of trouble and not because of a request, but because I miss You. There is an emptiness in me that nothing else fills.

Sometimes I feel so far away. I pray and feel nothing, I do mitzvot out of habit, and I forget You for long hours within the day. And then, in a sudden moment, in a song or in the quiet of night, I remember, and something in me aches with longing.

Draw me near. Open in me the heart that closed amid the burden. Let me feel You also within work, travel, conversations. Let You not be only on Shabbat and festivals, but part of every day.

I know that closeness is not only a feeling. Let me draw near through deeds as well: in a blessing I say slowly and not in a rush, in one prayer a day that I pray with intention, in a moment of pausing in the middle of the day to remember You.

And if I am still far, let me at least keep longing. Let the desire to come close not go out in me, even when I do not succeed.

And help me remove what separates us: pride, anger, the endless preoccupation with myself, so that there will be room in me for You.

And let me rejoice in every small moment of closeness, and not wait only for the great moments. Every word to You is already a step toward You.